When the Ice Melts
by Madeline Axelle
Summary: "Maybe this would help a little." You say as you raise your glass off the counter, asking him to join you in a toast. "We shall see." Kuai remarks to you, raising his glass after you before clinking his glass to yours lightly. "To strangers." "With a potential to be… Friends."
1. Stumbled

You glance at the impeccably installed wooden shelf filled with expensive liquors while you take a sip of your martini, ignoring the bartender who can't keep his eyes off of you for the last 10 minutes. He should've known better – you're a regular, a kind of regular that despised to be stared. Though you cannot entirely blame him regarding what you chose to wrap yourself with this evening. Showing some skin and a little cleavage wouldn't hurt anybody, would it?

Before you can take another sip of your drink, your eyes catch an unfamiliar face in the crowd maneuvering from across the bar. Grief is written all over his face – his rather eye-pleasing face; short, dark hair with rather scruffy beard framing his solid bone structure. His ripped, fit physique is covered with an inferior blue attire – doesn't quite suit the rather posh atmosphere, but looking that good, you assure yourself he can get away with anything.

The man finally stands next to you once a sigh leaves his mouth, leaning himself towards the bar as he dips his head down. Looking over him, you get the chance to witness the Greek God up close and my, he's jaw-droppingly good looking you almost had to bite down your lower lip, but you manage to keep yourself together after you take another sip of martini in your hand.

"Well, you don't look familiar."

You can tell he's startled by your voice as soon as he turns his head into your direction. A pair of soft blue eyes greets yours before you can feel your heart skips a beat.

"I do not normally go to bars." The gentleman replies with a wry smile. His voice is low, deep and husky; too good it should be a sin just to get an earful of it.

"I can tell," You put your drink on the counter before leaning yourself towards him, interested in what frowns that pretty face, "Care to tell me what's troubling that mind?"

"I believe you neither have the time nor care about my problems. Beside, in this world of memories, there is no need to have such conversation with a stranger." He remarks to you, but he drops his gaze to the counter.

You scoff on his relatively strange remark – this is a bar; talking to strangers shouldn't have been something so uncommon, but knowing that he doesn't really go to bars, you decide to shrug it off and reply, "You know what they say; strangers are the only friends you haven't yet encountered."

To your surprise, his cold look fades away and he chuckles after your statement, displaying you his perfect set of teeth lining up behind those full, firm lips. It's impossible for you to hold back the smile twitching on your face.

"I suppose we will need to check on that later, Miss." His voice is still shivering cold, but then he slightly turns his body into your direction before he continues, "Care to mention your name first?"

"I could ask you the same question since I know for certain you're not from the area."

"Kuai Liang. You are correct indeed; I live quite far from here."

"Well Mr. Kuai Liang, I figure you walk in here because you are in need of a stress release. Maybe you'd like a drink as we have our first conversation as… acquaintances." You throw him a leer before taking the last sip of your martini.

"I will have what you have, thank you." Kuai says as he points at your empty martini glass.

"But Mr. Kuai Liang, these are quite strong. Referring to your previous statement about how you don't really go to bars, I assume you don't really drink either?"

"I assure you, Miss. It can be handled. I have felt a greater strength than a glass of alcoholic beverage."

The way he speaks makes your mind wonders what this divine looking gentleman is really about. The words coming out of his mouth is nothing but a perfect grammar. The voice he possesses adds a tremendous point within him in your book. Especially now that you can see some of his chest hair peeking up beneath his shirt, you can barely contain your desire. Thankfully, you are that type of person that does not lose your image easily – at least to those around you, so outside you still manage to keep your charm.

"If you insist." You smirk at Kuai before asking the sleazy bartender for another two glasses of martinis. The bartender gives an attitude by raising his eyebrow yes to you. Maybe jealousy is consuming himself seeing you all over Kuai, but what can you do. The bartender is fifty feet of filthy garbage underground where Kuai is fifty feet above seventh heaven. Of course you'd choose Kuai any day of the century.

"Well, Mr. Kuai Liang from Faraway Land." You start the conversation as both of you wait for your drinks to be served, "What trouble brings you here? Money? Wife? Or girlfriend?"

"It is neither of those, actually. I do not live in this world merely for the money or such attachment." There is a brief pause before he continues, sighing in advance, "However, if you would like to be so inquisitive, let us call it a career problem. But I'm afraid I cannot decipher all the little details. "

"Due to the fact that I'm a stranger, yes?" You tease Kuai, throwing him a little grimace.

"Suit yourself, if you must." He shrugs, "It is way too intricate to be told, to tell you the truth. And I would appreciate it if we do not speak of it."

"Very well, Mr. Kuai Liang." Before you can let more words flying off of your mouth, the bartender places both of your drinks on the counter. A rather distracting clanking sound can be heard. He could be mad, but you could care less. _How could he even work here?_ You thought to yourself.

"Maybe this would help a little." You say as you raise your glass off the counter, asking him to join you in a toast.

"We shall see." Kuai remarks to you, raising his glass after you before clinking his glass to yours lightly.

"To strangers."

"With a potential to be… Friends."

The two of you then take a gulp out of the martinis, leaving the olives for later. You never leave your eyes off of Kuai Liang. You see him placing his glass back on the counter before he shut his eyes tight after a sip. It is confirmed; he doesn't really drink indeed.

This is your second glass of martini this evening, and the lightheaded feeling starts to come and slowly possess yourself. Thankfully, your alcohol tolerance is not below standard – maybe even higher than Kuai, so your chance to say something imbecile can be considered small.

"Interesting that you mentioned about how you don't live for attachment, Mr. Kuai Liang." You mutter after you place your glass on the counter.

"May I ask why?"

"A man quite like you could be very appealing to some women, I must say. You are… a not bad looking man, Mr. Kuai Liang."

Kuai chuckles off your remark about himself as he dips his head down, trying to hide the slight blush in his cheeks. "Thank you, but I do not really have the time for attachments to the significant others, really."

"A hard worker, I see."

"Beside, you could say that I am a secluded individual. I believe a woman like you should not be talking to someone quite like me. You could find me rather uninteresting." Kuai mutters before taking a big gulp of his martini. His face doesn't stiffen like after his first sip, but his face speaks loud and clear that he's still adjusting to the taste.

You're not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment or an offense, though you still manage to keep the smirk over your face, "Do you mind being more specific about 'a woman like me', Mr. Kuai Liang?"

"I am certain you have received these compliments many times, but in my eyes, a beautiful and enchanting woman such as yourself should not be interacting with someone as lonesome as I am." Kuai answers you before a knot of shy smile emerges within his face, rotating himself to you fully afterwards.

"Please, don't ever degrade yourself, Mr. Kuai Liang. I find you quite – how do I say this…" your voice trails off, searching for the right term to describe the mighty fine man standing in front of you, "Mysteriously intriguing."

You compliment him as your palm fondles his ripped, fit arm, feeling the curve of his brawn. You feel his arm slightly tensed up after your touch, but it seems to relax after another stroke. Then you notice afterwards that his arm is somewhat… cold, ice cold.

But my, my, he really does work out.

Alright, this could be the alcohol talking and gesturing. It's true that you have gotten used to being quite the flirt, and you have a soft spot for a mysterious man, but you've never been this blunt and forward before… it is Kuai who is just so darn irresistible. The farthest you've gone before Kuai was a flirty eye contact, never stroking or making the first move. You retract your arm as soon as you realize you might be going too far and you're afraid Kuai might think lowly of you before he trails away.

To your surprise, Kuai laughs it off and asks you, "How could I exactly be mysterious and intriguing at the same time?"

"Too bad you can't be on my shoes to see it yourself." You fetch him a smirk as both of you laugh your remark off before you finish your martini. Quite a big sip you take, which results in a slight hit on your head. You're used to it, though.

"Well, Miss, you have bewitched me; I have never thought a stranger could radiate such… charm."

You can see his fingers slowly crawl on the counter approaching yours before stroking your digits lightly which you gladly let. Your eyes glance at the contact, noticing that his fingers are as frigid as his arm is, but you ignore the frosty feel that is starting to radiate through your fingers and letting your eyes meet his sharp gaze. His eyes and yours telepath things that only your mind can read as you sway your curly eyelashes at him.

"You're not too bad yourself, Mr. Kuai Liang." You manage to let out a sentence confidently inspite of how those eyes of Kuai almost make you want to throw yourself at him right now. One of the perks of being a flirt.

Kuai then takes one step forward to be closer you. He grabs your waist rather gently before pulling you even closer to him. So close you can smell his scent of musk lingering on your nostrils. His gaze intensifies and you can feel your pulse racing as he tilts his head, assuming he's leaning in for a kiss.

Finally, alcohol works in your favor. Thank goodness for martini.

You reflectively place your palm on his shoulder and ready to greet his full lips with yours. Your face is so close to his you can barely make out his face, but you definitely smell his breath of martini which you do not mind. At all.

You take a sharp breath as both of your lips are just a few inches away. He moistened his lips in advance of closing the distance between. Yes, you want those alluring lips on yours. Now.

Just when you think he's about to close the tiny gap, a disorderly sound of clanking glasses runs through your ears. Those voices come from Kuai's background before his back is being bumped by someone behind him. You take a glance behind him to register what forces you to cancel the little lip action you were about to have, and what you witness there annoys the hell out of you.

A waiter just accidently poured glasses of wine on Kuai's back.

Marvelous.

"Oh, good Lord! I'm deeply sorry, sir. I really am." The waiter apologizes. You can tell that he meant it judging by how shaky his voice is. Though the man seems torn between picking up pieces of broken glass on the floor or mopping Kuai's back with a cloth he carries.

"That is quite alright, sir. Do not feel bad." Kuai assures the waiter, smiling as he helps the waiter picks up the pieces of shattering glasses on the floor.

If it was you, you swear the waiter – and that sleazy bartender whom you can hear practically laughing over the situation – would be in a lot of trouble. You are annoyed by all the situation – for God's sake you were so close, but you don't have the heart to meddle in seeing how much of a gentleman Kuai is; you can easily judge a man by the way he treats servers.

"Oh, sir I'm really sorry. I'm new here. P-please, your drinks will be on me." The waiter stutters. He's still all over the place trying to clean the mess he made while repeatedly apologizing to Kuai which sends you feeling rather bad for him.

"Please, don't bother." You decide to interlope, trying to keep the nicest tone of yours going, "He's my guest. Keep your paycheck for something else."

"R-really?"

You and Kuai both nod in reassuring the waiter it is all good. This whole situation somehow confuses you, though. You wouldn't normally act this kind. You wouldn't even try so hard to impress a man in your sanest day.

Is it the alcohol? Or is it Kuai?

"Well… thank you for the kindness, sir, ma'am. I… Guess I'm gonna go get a mop." The waiter nervously leaves as he disappears into the crowd after you and Kuai gives him the green light to go.

Now it's just you and Kuai… again.

Kuai runs his fingers through his hair as his attention goes back to you, putting that shy smile of his that you cherish so much.

"Well that was unfortunate… of him." You mumble. Kuai giggles as if he knows you're also referring to the misfortunate situation happened between you, "Mind if I take a look at your back?"

Without saying anything, Kuai gives you a look of his behind and you can see a huge splat in burgundy there. You can practically smell red wine all over him. Strangely, in the most intoxicating way possible.

And Lord, his back is a godsend. Even with clothes on.

"You know Mr. Kuai Liang, I live in the penthouse upstairs and I might have something for you to change into." You go with your instinct and mutter, trying to dim the ambiguities in your tone.

Kuai had just finished his last sips of martini when his face looks questioning as if he's asking what you mean. Uh oh, have you taken the wrong step?

Luckily, you manage to quickly distract the sentence into something more innocent, "You're aware that red wine stains will be harder to vanish when it dries, aren't you?"

You die a little inside every second waiting for Kuai to say something. At this moment, you're already preparing yourself to put on your straight face and graciously accept his deny on your invitation. It's hard to stay collected sometimes.

"I would appreciate it." Kuai's lips twitch upwards, accepting your invitation.

For a brief moment there, you are quite shocked. Thought he was going to run away and doesn't think highly of you. Nonetheless, you're relieved by his response; even bad things happened in your favor.

* * *

Your hands cruise around your wardrobe impatiently, trying to find the one and only male shirt in it. Man, if only you remembered the color, it would be easier to find that damn thing. Kuai is waiting in your bedroom with you, sitting on the edge of your bed – hopefully, with his shirt on still. You know you're going to lose it if his upper body is no longer covered. Those thoughts drive your mind to draw images of him topless doing things at you.

"Have you found it?"

Oh no, you were so lost in your dirty thoughts that Kuai's voice shocks you a little bit. You take a deep breath before you charmingly answer him, "I think I see it, Mr. Kuai Liang."

You lied. You haven't found it. You try to cruise your hands quicker but the darn thing won't show itself.

"If I may know, are you going to lend me one of your shirts for me to change into?" Kuai asks.

"Oh no, Mr. Kuai Liang. I'm looking for one specific male shirt here." You answer, chuckling, but your eyes are still glued to your wardrobe.

"Ah, I see that you've had some male companies every now and then."

You nearly burst out in laughter on his remark, but you can't really make out his tone if it's supposed to be a joke or a serious matter.

"Care to define 'some', Mr. Kuai Liang?"

There's a short pause before his answer is heard, "Oh, my apologies. It is rude of me to invade your privacy. I hope you can let that go. I-it must have been the alcohol."

"It is quite alright, Mr. Kuai Liang. I didn't mind, really." You chuckle after his apology because it sounds like he truly feels bad about asking you such question, "The last male company I had was months ago. Then I dated him for a few months, but it didn't work out, unfortunately, so I broke it off."

Thankfully, you see the shirt after you lift one more shirt off of it before you can go deeper with your story. You wouldn't want to tell a whole, mood-breaker story about how much of a fool your ex is to a man you're trying to bed here, would you?

Without wasting one more second, you grab that shirt and graciously turn yourself to face Kuai.

"And this, is my brother's shirt." You say as you shut the wardrobe behind you.

You find Kuai looking at you as if he just saw a precious gem lying in front of his eyes, but he quickly arch his head downwards once you catch him staring. Lips quirking and fingers intertwining. Yes, if it was other man, you'd fetch him your most cynical face. But this is Kuai – heck, you'd let him stare until his last breaths.

"You do know it's rude to stare don't you, Mr. Kuai Liang?" You cackle humorously, trying to hide that you're secretly flattered.

"In my defense, you should not look like that." Kuai lets out a deep chuckle.

Well, your body is still wrapped with your sultry dress and Kuai is slightly tipsy, so you're not blaming it on him. My, men's eyes are like little magnets attached to a refrigerator with this dress on you.

You grin shyly at his remark as you strut towards the bed where he's sitting and hand him the shirt.

Looking up at you, Kuai expresses his gratitude, "Thank you. I appreciate this, really."

"Not a problem, Mr. Kuai Liang." You simply smile at him.

Before you even think of getting a grip, Kuai pulls his shirt over his head, sending his abs scrunching and exhibiting those glorious, glorious packs and those broad shoulders that weakened your feet.

 _Oh my goodness, me._

You fold your arms together, not knowing what to do but biting your lower lip. Thinking how much you want that body to cover yours in a heated embrace.

"Is everything alright?" Catching you stare, Kuai's husky voice suddenly fills the silence, waking you up from your thoughts.

You were a bit startled at first, but you are able to calmly answer, "Oh, nothing, Mr. Kuai Liang. You're just distracting."

 _Darn it, alcohol._

And you know you were doing so well before! At this point, you'd rather be swollen alive by the planet earth, but you know there's nothing you can do to unsay that embarrassing sentence. Your only saving grace is that you don't even try to hide your face from him. Keeping that smile lighting up the room. But inside you, several things are going on. Up there and… Down there.

You notice that Kuai only got one of his arms inside a sleeve. The other arm is still uncovered and you don't know how much longer he wants to expose his bare skin.

Giggling, he remarks, "Well, so are you. I must admit." He finally puts his other arm covered with the shirt's sleeve, still leaving the shirt unbuttoned, but then his tone drastically change "Especially those… lips."

Well that's not a bad answer – no, that's a really good answer. And you know he's telling you the truth by looking at his burning gaze which feels nothing like how cold his hands are. He did try to kiss you earlier in the bar, too.

"Oh…" your jaw slightly drops.

"I realize it sounds inane, but…" He sighs, "It piques my curiosity, and I must say I was disappointed when we did not get to kiss earlier."

You have to admit; his words take your breath away – no, _he_ takes your breath away. His body. His eyes. That mouth. Oh, what could that mouth possibly do…

Never in your life have you heard something being said so bluntly to your face, but it's strangely… sexy.

"Well maybe I can fix that for you."

You suddenly find your mind blank as you unconsciously lick your lips. You don't even try to stay breezy. You want him and he wants you. That's it.

A strange magnetic energy radiates from his eyes before you take a step towards him and have your fingers tangled on his hair.

Looking down on him, you find his lips part as you give little tugs to his soft locks without protesting your gestures. His head is leveled with your breast and you're pretty sure he can hear the thump of your heart and see your dilated pupils. Your palm slowly travels to his beard before finding his hungry eyes on yours.

Before you know it, you bend your knee next to him as you tilt his face up closer to you. He takes a sharp breath before you brush his soft, wet lips against yours. His lips are eager yet easeful against yours. He tastes of chilled martini throughout, making you crave more of those deliciously cold lips.

Your tongue darts out and go through the soft barrier only to have a taste of his tongue. Kuai keenly parts his lips to welcome you before placing one hand behind your neck and deepens the kiss to start a slow massage, showering every angle of your mouth with burning passion.

One cold hand slowly slides up your thigh beneath your high-slit dress. Soft and chaste caresses are generously gifted up and down your thigh before Kuai pulls you even closer, sending him lying on his back with you on top of his solid figure.

Settling yourself on top of him and never leaving his lips, your hand begins tracing every curve of his chest before attempting on stripping the shirt off of him.

He takes you by surprise when he flips you over with such strength you never know he has, trapping you beneath him. You let out a groan of frustration once he pins your hand above your head.

"And what do you think you are doing?" He hushes into your ears, sending shivers through your whole existence with clouds of cold breaths teasing your sensitive ear.

"I'm a very impatient woman, Mr. Kuai Liang." You whimper, stressing your words as your hands try to escape his strong grasp.

"Those who have patience can have what he will, my dear." Kuai teases you, in a voice so sexy you'd be willing to do just anything, "Let me teach you one thing or two about it."

Kuai gets up on his knees and frees your hands only because he needs his hands to hook his fingers on the straps of your dress before sliding it effortlessly to reveal your breasts.

Before you can let out a voice of protest being him getting to strip you out first, he whispers, "Kuai." Then continue his work on peeling you off your dress and leaving you naked under him without bothering to remove your heels.

He smirks impressively over your naked body finding out there's not an inch of fabric underneath your dress. Well, so much for staying breezy when, in fact, this almost half naked man is way breezier. At this point all you can do is breathing heavily under his mercy, waiting for him to begin his beautiful assault on you.

Kuai drops himself onto you to lock your lips once again with his, allowing your tongues to duel once again. The weight of him and the solid lines of his chest arouse you as your hands roam through his soft beard.

A growl escapes your mouth as Kuai nibbles on your ear. His beard would softly scratch you when his tongue dashes through your ear hole and sends shiver down your spine with his frosty breaths.

Writhing against him, you hook his thigh in between your legs in effort to get close to your groin where attention is most needed. Kuai lifts his knee slightly, pushing it firmly between your thighs before you buck and rub yourself against the denim material of his pants.

All your writhe is silenced once you find his lips on your once again, briefly. Kuai eventually graze his teeth on your jaw and your head falls back.

"Mmh, Kuai…" You shake as his tongue finds the hollow of your throat, but there's nothing you can do but pressing his knee on your groin harder while you tangle his locks beneath your fingers.

Your hips buck harder against him as you feel a strangely arousing coldness radiating from his lips on your collarbone. Before you know it, Kuai's lips are back on yours again as he pins your hip firmly to the bed to stop you from bucking so hard which doesn't work for you; his hand on your hip only makes you want him more.

He slides his hands up the curve of your body, nudging the side of your breasts but he keeps his teases by not touching you where you ache for him. His hands get to the side of your face. His mouth gets hungrier against yours and it's getting too much for you that you'd break apart if you can't have him now.

The lust consuming your body drives you to flip him over on his back once more, positioning yourself on top of him before your lips crashes once again. You grind yourself against his hardening member beneath his jeans as his fingers traces the arch of your back. Your nipples instantly hardened once they're lightly tickled by the chest hair of Kuai while you swipe your clit harder against him.

Without leaving your lips, he sits up to grab one of your breasts and opens his mouth on it, flicking his cold tongue out to assault your sensitive nipple.

"Getting impatient, Kuai?" You purr as you push his head further into your breast. His eyes squint up and find yours.

So who's the impatient one now?

A shaky moan escapes your lips before he gives your other breast the same treatment which sends shiver down your spine. And that's all the motivation for you to strip him off his shirt which he gladly complies.

You push him back onto his back before you scoot forward and reach for the headboard, placing his face right between your thighs. His mouth opens on your sex and it's the most wonderful sensation as his cold tongue laps along your outer lips.

Kuai strokes your thigh as your hip grinds his face, making circular movements with an insistent rhythm to your satisfaction. His tongue pierces your opening back and forth and you moan out his name, begging him for more. You arch your back, one hand reaches for his member and you feel it hard against your palm. You start stroking him as he sucks hard on your pulsing nub.

"Oh God, just like that…" You pants as his palm reach up to fondle your breasts while his talented tongue keeps torturing you down there. Goodness that tongue feels so good you'd give up a life supply of vodka. Thank heavens you went to your waxing appointment this morning.

You withdraw yourself from him after a few more stroke as you move further down his body, leaving one last passionate kiss on his mouth before you make a wet trail down to his sublime abs which ends at his belt.

Sitting up, you undo his jeans with his assistance, and what's under his confines impresses you. You smirk impressively at the size of him before you pull his jeans down his legs and stroke his length up and down.

Kuai's mouth forms a perfect little O as you insert the tip of him inside your mouth. Instead of taking his length further down, you decide to tease him by grazing your lips just until it reaches the vein below his tip.

"Please…" Kuai begs.

You flash out a grin as you bob your head down on him, moistening his length with your saliva and using your hand to stroke the rest of him. His body tensed up when you go deeper as his fingers work with your hair to give you a push.

He moans out your name and it arouses you even more. The sight of him right now is glorious which draws you to suck harder while your other hand works with his pendulums. You let him feel the opening of your throat before he hastily yanks your hair to release yourself from him.

Before you know it, Kuai's lips are all over yours again as he pushes you down to lie on your back. You willingly spread your legs and trap his body between your thighs. You're doing this. You're actually doing this.

"I want you…" You moan into his mouth between the kisses.

Kuai's lips form a sexy grin as he releases your lips and sets himself on his knees. The tip of him streaks your clit slowly and he looks pleased with himself seeing you panting over his tease. Your eyes roll back as the tip of him slid inside you. The overwhelming feeling draws you to clench on your sheet once his length sinks into you in one, fluid movement, making your legs shake and you groan in pleasure

The pace he sets is deliciously enticing; not aggressive, but quick enough to make you want more. You mewl as Kuai rests his palm on your hips for a better chance to pound you harder. His touch only is enough get your heart racing, but the fire within you flames once his lips found yours for a brief moment, leaving the taste of him lingering even when he pulls away.

Kuai's hands eventually find its way to your knees, forcing them back and spreading your legs even wider, allowing him to thrust himself deeper and more brutal inside you.

Lust consumes your whole existence and you are barely aware of the curse words escaping your lips as he increases his pace. You are moaning and weeping uncontrollably under the mercy of this unfairly hot stranger that is fucking you senseless. You barely knew Kuai, but sweet Jesus he feels so good and you don't ever want him to stop.

He's just at the right angle to hit that sweet spot of yours and the pressure keeps building through you after craving for him the whole night. You can feel your orgasm on the edge of crashing on you as you clench on the sheet harder.

But before you find your release, Kuai flips you over quickly while you're still groggy. He parts your legs as he lifts you up by your stomach, setting you on your knees.

"You might want to hold tight for this one." He whispers seductively in your ear. You bite your lip eagerly and you are certain you're going to like whatever's coming your way.

He presses his weight on your back as your hands grip tightly on the headboard. Arching up against him, his chest hair tickles you along your spine before you feel himself sliding his hardware inside you once more. You let out a loud gasp once his tip reaches the end of you.

His lips and teeth keep grazing along your neck and shoulder, drawing yet some other desperate moans from you. As he squeezes your hip, he thrusts into you ruthlessly and repeatedly from behind, causing the bed to creak once in awhile.

You can feel the strength of his hips which pounds roughly against you. Excited gasps escape his lips in between his assaults on your neck. When you're about to think it's already too much for you to handle, you find Kuai's palms fondle your breasts for a brief moment before he slips one index finger between your legs. He lubes his finger where your bodies are jointed then turns its attention at your hardened nub and start massaging your clit while keeping his rough pace.

You cry as your hips buck against him. Your legs are shaking and your breathing is uncoordinated.

"Please, Kuai… I'm so close…" You find yourself panting, unable to control yourself. You don't want him to stop doing what he's doing. You want him to keep going for some more strokes…

Your orgasm finally crashes over you like a tidal wave as you moan out his name for one last time. Your muscles stiffen under him before you can hear his breathing gets more erratic. The squeeze on your hips gets rougher and you can feel his nails almost sink into it. He cries out a symphony in your ears as you feel the warmth of his seeds inside you.

Recovering from both of your high, he gives you a few last slow strokes inside you before he pulls himself out and rests his head above your shoulder, ending your session with a gentle kiss there.

* * *

A drop of temperature in your room wakes you up from your sleep. You slowly flicks your eyes open in the darkness as your hand searches for your sleeping partner, which isn't next to you. Rubbing your eyes, you rise from your back and sits up, feeling a sight of relieve once your eyes find Kuai's perfectly carved back facing you. You can only see a tiny portion of his fucked up hair – his head is dipped way down.

Pulling up the sheet to cover your naked body, you slowly maneuver his way and places a palm gently on his shoulder, "You're up early, Kuai."

You can see a sight of wry smile knotting on his perfect lips as he greets your hand with his cold one before he kisses yours lightly, "I could not sleep."

"Is there a problem?"

There's a brief pause there before he spins himself to face you without letting go of your hand. You are greeted with the same look he depicts the first time you laid eyes on him – the grief. Sadness scatters all over him and it's enough to tell you that what he's carrying is no light burden.

"This… what we did earlier…" His voice trails off, "It is a mistake. I-I apologize."

"What are you sorry for? It was amazing. Possibly the best one I've had in a long time." You try to cheer him up. And again, you still don't understand why he's sorry – you were the one who led on him.

"Engaging with me could endanger your life… I… I should have never touched you in such ways…" The grief in his voice can be heard clearer. His thumb stroking gently on your hand feels colder than before as you can feel something close to a dagger stabbing you right in the chest.

"You are saying that like you're a bad person, Kuai. I know you're not."

"You know not my evil side… What I do… it is dangerous…"

A deep sigh escapes your lips as you place his forehead against yours. You do realize you barely know him, and you don't know his true intentions or even why he walked into that bar, but somehow you know he's not what he says he is.

You don't normally act this way – heck, if you had a one night stand, you wouldn't care if that man left before you're up. But with Kuai… you're not sure what's gotten into you, but the thought of must letting him go that easily left a huge burden in your heart.

 _Why… you don't even know him…_

Eventually, your hand travels to his beard before caressing it softly. You gulp hard, trying to hold back the sadness that somewhat you cannot control. This might be the last time you will ever see him, and the thought makes your eyes water.

You take a deep breath and close your eyes as an attempt to dry your eyes – you wouldn't want to show him you're close to weeping over this man you've only known for a few hours. You pull his face closer to you before brushing his soft lips with yours. He doesn't hesitate, but you can feel his lower lip trembles in between your lips.

You slowly pull away and open your eyes and find his eyes looking down. At this point, both of you know it has to end and it's not a pleasant thought.

"For the first time in my life, I wish it doesn't have to end like this." You whisper as his thumb finds its way to your cheek.

"I apologize… I wish we could have met under a different circumstance." He says as he puffs cold breaths against your face. You never thought this would cross your mind, but you're going to miss this.

You sigh, preparing yourself to say the word, "So, is this it?"

"I'm afraid so…"

Shoot. There's that dagger again.

You throw him a weak smile as you let go of him, secretly hiding your pain before you ask, "Do you have to leave now?"

Kuai nods weakly, never leaving his eyes off of you. He slowly releases your hand as he rises to his feet. You didn't even notice earlier that he has put his pants back on.

"You can keep the shirt." You mutter faintly. His mouth knots a brittle smile as he picks your shirt off the floor and putting it on him.

You glance at his movements as you've come to the realization that this could be the last time you will ever see this man. Kuai walks towards your sitting form when he catches you stare. A palm of his is pressed towards your cheek before he leans on you to give you one last kiss on your lips.

"Take a good care of yourself." Kuai says once he pulls away from you.

"Farewell, Kuai."

Just like that, he shows himself to your bedroom door and shuts it firmly behind him, leaving you feeling empty inside.

You grab a cigarette out of your nightstand and lit one up as you lean on the headboard with Kuai on your mind. His kiss… his touch… the coldness of his skin… still lingers all over your body as you remember every touch you share earlier. You deliberately wrap yourself with your arms. Your head falls back, trying to fight the tears.

Exhaling the nicotine out, your mind wanders to Kuai. The gentle ice cold Kuai. Why can't you get him out of your mind? More importantly, what is he up to? What is his intention?

 _Who is he?_

Those questions will remain unanswered… at least that's what you think.

* * *

 **If you're reading this, you like the fic ;) Please R &R! I also would appreciate your constructive criticism to make this story better, but please be polite. And s/o to Mexmajestic202 for telling me that Kuai Liang is actually his first name, also to MartengaPop for being the best beta reader anyone could ever ask for. You guys rock^^  
**


	2. Longing

_It's cold. It's dark._

It surrounds you like this world has lost its warm ray of light. A vision of yours has been taken away somewhere and it left you alone. Trembling hands, numb lips and chilled spine seem to be your only company- unwanted company.

This must be one of those dreams again.

As you attempt on steadying your feet, you slowly step forward, hoping for a light at the end- if there is one. It doesn't matter to you that you are not able to see a thing or how badly your body freezes; you know you just have to escape this nightmare despite how you can't even breathe properly.

Heeding to the front, you eye two specks of bright blue lights shaped like a pair of eyes- a mundane pair of eyes that somehow radiates warmth among your freezing surrounding. Figure those specks of lights might seem to be your only hope to escape this, with all the strength you have, you move your feet forward closer to the lights.

You know you're getting closer to the light as you start to vision a male figure before you; the source of the lights that has been guiding you- those are his eyes indeed. And a hand of his is trying to reach out to you as if he's about to help you out of the darkness.

 _Or is he?_

Something isn't right.

Wrapped around his hand is a large amount of hoarfrost, spreading across all curves of his fingers and palm. Stains of blood flawed the clear icy exterior as if this hand has just taken someone's life in the most brutal way imaginable.

Heaving on remark of what you're witnessing, you notice the coldness begin to frost one of your hand, and it's spreading quickly like a wildfire. There's nothing you can do to stop the frost and you need to escape this dream quick.

 _Wake up, wake up…_

The little voices inside your head screams so as you feel your surrounding shakes like crazy. The darkness seems to cracks slowly as it reveals disorganized lines with extremely bright light- almost making you feel as if you're about to lose your sight permanently.

Trying to cover your eyes, you shut your eyes tight, and a drop of tear starts appearing on the brink of your eye. But you could care less. You try to scream, but you can't seem to produce even a little voice- just a helpless, throaty moan. Your head feels like exploding- a choice you'd take if you had one rather than being trapped in this miserable dream.

And before you know it, the dream consumes itself into a endless black hole, drowning your soul into it as well...

* * *

A sudden gasp escape your lips as your eyes shoot wide. Feeling your chest pounding and cold sweats drip down your body, you are greeted by yet another darkness. Thankfully, with some illumination from the windowpane.

You breathe a sigh of relief- it's just another nightmare. You're not trapped in a strange darkness with no way out. You're safe and sound in your bedroom, lying above the soft sheet covering your bed.

But this very nightmare is not your first time. You've been having the same dream for almost two months now.

The strangest thing is that it has been visiting you ever since Kuai walked away.

You sigh in confusion as the thought of that beautiful creature creeps back inside you, shifting your body towards the window, tucking a hand under the pillow. You wonder how can such thing as a one night stand with a complete strange man affects your thought like this. Normally, you'd get over these stuff after a drink or two, but it didn't seem to work this time. The thought of seeing a therapist starts to crawl into your head.

Shaking your head, you discard that thought immediately, figuring you just need a glass of water. You rise up to a sitting position, grabbing a glass of water off your nightstand and press the clear glass against your mouth, devouring the pureness of water that soon quench the dryness of your mouth.

 _Meow, meow!_

A sound of a kitten in distress suddenly flows through your ears, but within another sip of water, you dismisses the thought of checking it out immediately as you lie on your back once more, trying to go back to sleep.

 _Meow, meow!_

The kitten let out that high voice again, but right now, it starts to get annoying for you. Not that you're not fond of animal- you'd actually prefer them over human, but the nightmare you had left you quite exhausted that you just feel like staying still with only solitude surrounding you.

But that kitten shows no sign of stopping any soon. Grumbling in advance, your hand heavily reach for the clock sitting nicely over your nightstand.

It's 2.40 am.

You roll your eyes in annoyance. No wonder that kitten sings its high pitched melody like there's no tomorrow, you thought to yourself.

Looking out, you notice drizzles of rain start pouring down and slowly embellish your window with its wet little dots. You can hear the wind blowing behind the window before a thunder strikes, which sends you flinching at the shock of it.

And then your mind travels to the sound of the kitten which gets louder every second. In this weather, there is no way the kitten could survive on its own. Maybe the kitten needs protection, but where is its mother?

Alright, at the point the noise the kitten's making is getting longer and louder, your heart is moved to bring the kitten inside your home- maybe lay it on a stack of blanket for it to seek some warmth, or feed it with milk.

With a deep sigh, you raise from your back and place your feet on the ground, gathering yourself before you grab a light coat to protect your nightgown from the rain.

It's all about getting a kitten in distress then going back inside, right?

You head outside your penthouse and follow the noise coming from the kitten. As you step down the stairs, you can't help but thinking how come such little thing as a kitten could have such a loud noise that you can hear it from upstairs.

This mustn't be an ordinary kitten... What if it's a trap?

Your consciously suspicious mind kicks in as you stop your tracks, debating yourself whether you should sacrifice yourself and go through the nasty weather for something… almost too sketchy to be true.

Shaking your head, you decide to discard the thought away- maybe you've been watching too much scary movies. Continuing your tracks, you finally reach the door heading outside. You notice the rain is pouring slightly heavier as you look up to the sky, so pulling up the hood attached to your coat could be the safer option.

The noise is getting louder with each step you take, which you think is a good sign as you know you're going the right way. But then it's no longer a good sign as you realized your feet has taken you into a dark alleyway. Your nose smells the unpleasant smell of garbage- so pungent you cringe before you bring your palm to cover your nose, and the rain just make it worse as the puddles you stepped on seeps into your feet through your footwear.

At this point, there is no turning back. You just need that kitten to show up as you're certain this is where the noise come from.

"Here, kitty…" You try to call the kitten out as you take a peek behind all the garbage cans, "I have some-"

"At last, we finally met."

Startled by the deep, dark voice, you reflectively shift yourself to the source, hitting the metal trash can cover in advance before it clanks itself to the solid ground.

What stands in front of you is nothing you have ever seen before. Beneath the dark, rainy sky, all you see is almost nothing but darkness within this male figure. His pupiless eyes are staring right at your soul, making your heart skips a beat- in the worst way possible. The rest of his face is covered with black mask, including his head with a black hood draping over it. All-black attire covered his entire body with skin nowhere to be seen.

You clench your teeth as you're trying to stop it from trembling in fear. No, no matter how scary he looks, you mustn't show fear.

Profounding your gaze, you say, "I- I do not know you."

The man lets out a mocking chuckle at your remark as he takes a few step to corner you, "Shame, because I do."

"Stay where you are!" You exclaim as your hand roams through things behind you to throw at the man. You dearly wish you've got your beretta with you right now, clearly you did not see things like this coming.

"Pity I do not take orders from you."

"Pity you've confronted the wrong lady today."

As you're saying those words, your hand firmly grab onto what feels like a piece of broken glass you've luckily found. The sharp edges of the object almost cuts too deep into your skin, but you could care less- you just want to get out of here. Without wasting any second, you dart the object hard at the creep in front of you as you growl powerfully.

Thankfully, because you own a beretta, your aim is decent and the glass object harshly lands on his belly and cuts through it. As he bows and grunts in pain, you begin to run like the wind, passing the dark man you just injured.

You're getting closer to the end of the alleyway as you feel your heart races harder and sweats of fear starts dripping on your neck, afraid that the man will caught up with you. Your feet could definitely run faster, but the tremble makes it impossible to do. The discomfort feeling of blood mixed with sweat on your palm and the slippery ground don't help either.

But no, you're not planning on looking back. You know you have to keep running to get away from the mysterious man.

You let out a scream as you suddenly feel a strong arm circles your neck firmly as another arm holds your arms and body down. No matter how hard you try to escape as you wriggle your body, you find it impossible to escape- the grip only gets stronger in each movement you make.

Now, you think the mysterious man has caught you, and he's holding you down right now like there's no tomorrow. Terrifyingly, you can see the dark man you injured earlier walk up in front of you before he faces you as he lets out a smug laugh out as if you've done nothing to him.

"Trying to escape, I see. Very brave of you, young lady, but it could be your downfall. Because I, should be feared."

As you feel your breathing gets more rigid on what you're witnessing, you start to notice that what's currently holding you down is nothing but a lump of dark shadow resembling the dark, pupiless man.

It's his shadow clone…

You really feel you could faint anytime soon as what you're seeing is something so alien- so out of this world you've already known. These things shouldn't exist, but here you are; being held by it- something you have never believed in as you thought these things only exist in nightmares.

But you guess you know nothing- your life is already based on nightmares.

You try to scream for some help, but strangely, there are no voice coming out of your throat. Your throat can feel nothing but acute pain hovering through it. Your jaw is left dropped and trembling in fear. At this point, you almost give up, and hiding your fear can do you no good.

"Sub-Zero's secret lover: so brave, so fair. Let us see what he'd do to save you from me." The man mumbles again.

"I- I don't know what you're saying," You stutter in between your rigid breath, still trying your hardest to escape his grip though you know it won't help much, "I d-don't know who S-Sub-Zero is…"

The man laugh devilishly at your remark, "I guess lying is not one of your strongest suits… yes?"

"You will be in s-some serious trouble if y-you don't believe m-my words…"

"You expect me to believe a liar? I-"

"I swear I don't know who Sub-Zero is!" You bark to the dark man again.

You assume you have pissed him off by the way he claws his hand around your neck and snatch you off of his shadow clone, which then dissolves into lump and travels back into the dark man's body.

The sight you just witnessed already terrifies you, but what sends you even weaker is the fact that your feet aren't touching the ground as the dark man chokes you in the cold thin air, moving your legs back and forth in panic, almost running out of breath.

A near-death experience is probably the right term to describe this, but you feel like you could die anytime soon if he keeps on choking you this hard.

"Listen, woman!" The dark man exclaims, "Defending Sub-Zero will not save him or you from my wrath! You better-"

Between your rigid breath and your body that is getting number, you can suddenly feel the dark man's hand that is choking you being stroked by ice coming from above, causing his hand to freeze and forcing you off his grip.

"Stop, Bi-Han." The knight in shining armor shouts from above.

But you haven't got a chance to see what your savior looks like as your feet hits the ground, sending your behind to collapse onto the ground as well and rubbing your newly freed neck. For the first time in your life, you feel grateful for air that couldn't get inside your lungs for a good few minutes earlier.

"You do not control me, Sub-Zero." The dark man denies as the frost throughout this hand starts shattering and finally frees his hand, growling at him afterwards.

Catching you off guard, the dark man's leg swings up in the air before it lands hard on your hip, sliding you through the coarse ground and sending your head hitting the hard brick wall of the alleyway.

You grunt at the excruciating pain as you hear someone yells the word 'no'- you assume it's your savior, but you could care less at this point. As your hand reach through your temple and detect some wetness beneath your hair, you know you're bleeding heavily. You gasp weakly as you find out your assumption is true after you see the thick, red liquid scattering all over your palm.

As you feel a cold hand supporting your back, your eyes are already flickering. You are trying so hard to keep your eyes open, afraid if you close them, you might never be able to open them anymore.

You're not sure how long you can keep fighting… but oh, the cold hand feels strangely pleasing. For a split second, you think it will be alright to close your eyes here… maybe forever, but this feels right…

Before you give up on keeping your eyes wide, the last thing you see is a pair of soft blue eyes of your savior.

A pair of soft, calming blue eyes you think you've laid your eyes on before...

* * *

Your eyes flicker open to find a dim surrounding. Warm, dusk-like lighting does not feel so bad to your eyes – even though you prefer to have no lights at all as your head feels surprisingly heavy and shutting your eyes back might be best, but your head hurts too much to even try to go back to sleep. The cold atmosphere in the room does not help either.

Rubbing your poignant eyes beforehand, you find yourself lying in a charming bedroom. You can almost smell the pinewood which you think the bed is made of. The soft mattress is covered with a clean white sheet and you can tell it is washed regularly. Litting up in front of you is a fireplace, radiating its warmth to you- it doesn't do much, though. You can see a big wooden wardrobe at one corner of the room, but then that's it. For a big space like this, this room is quite simple. You can hear the cricket sings its nighttime melody and that's all it takes for you to find out it is night time before it hits you…

This bedroom is not yours.

"No, no, no…" You mutter in peevish once you find yourself wrapped in someone else's t-shirt – male's t-shirt, judging by the size of it. You lift your left hand to check the time, but you find out you aren't wearing your watch.

Your hand then roams through the soft sheet in panic as you feel a sting of pain all over your palm. Then you realize bandage has covered your entire hand.

 _What happened? Why can't you remember a single thing…?_

Grunting on the extreme pain, you push yourself to sit up and lean back to the headboard despite your heavy head is dying for you to keep your head above the pillow. A hand of yours reach out for a digital clock on the nightstand and you find out it is 1.32 AM.

You force your mind to remember what happened before you got in this unfamiliar bedroom, but your mind won't ring a single bell. Did you hook up with someone? But you don't recall meeting someone… Did you drink too much? But you don't recall going to the bar…

You're not even sure where you were the last time and how you end up here.

Your mind shuts down once the door slowly creaks open. Your hands that grip tightly on the blanket start to sweat as your heart races against the heavy breaths coming out of you – this very person could be the one who wants something from you that he has to snatch you off to his place.

Though it could also be the one who has saved you from whatever it is, but you can't afford to think of anything right now- let alone positively as this whole thing is nothing but one, blurry mess.

The door reveals a ripped male figure in a blue, and what it seems like, ninja attire. A gleaming icy blue badge with golden edge and some strange symbol in the center is placed neatly on the right side of his chest. His face is covered with a black mask that enfolds his whole head except his bright blue eyes that shines. The mask has a glowing cyan line that goes from the nose part to the mouth.

But it's not the mask or the badge that captures your attention.

It is those blue eyes which looks scarily familiar.

 _Did it had something to do with what kind of mess has happened to you?_

"I see you have woken up." The masked man speaks in a deep croaky voice, "How are you feeling?"

You can barely make out his voice because of that mask, but you're almost certain that depth and huskiness of his voice rings a small bell somewhere in your mind. Nonetheless, you decide to not get carried away with the familiarity.

"Who are you? Where am I? And why am I here?" You exclaim your piles of questions, trying to hide the slight fear with your skepticism.

The masked man's eyes squint up as if he's smiling under his mask. Moving closer to you, he answers, "It does not matter right now." He takes a sit next to your legs before he continues, "You received a rather serious hit on your head earlier this morning. It is normal if you cannot recall the event, but I hope you are feeling better by now."

You roll your eyes at his endless mumbling, "Just so you know, _Sir_. I will not let you know until you answer my questions."

But recalling on his words, now you know you've been unconscious for almost a whole day. Though you're still unsure how.

The man sighs weakly at your remark, "As I have mentioned before, you received a serious hit on your head, so I brought you here in my… home, as one would say."

"And where is this located?"

"Arctika"

Instantly, your forehead scrunches hearing the name of the place. Your geography skill isn't the best but you know that a place named Arctika can't be a legit place.

"Come again?" You ask for his confirmation in disbelief. You dearly wish you did not hear it right and that he was mentioning a place that you know of.

"It does not matter right now. You are safe here." The man simply says at your remark.

"Of course it does! For God's sake, I am here in this strange place lying in some stranger's bed and—"

"I assure you, I am not a stranger." He cuts you off in a tone that attempts to calm you down, but it doesn't work on you and you just want to storm off this place if you are not so paralyzed.

Well but he does look familiar. And he does remind you of someone… but could it be... _him_?

No, no. It can't be…

But oh, all these clues just won't stop messing with your head. That deep voice he possesses. Those glowing bright blue eyes. The way he speaks… Oh, if only he's not covered with all those complicated attire…

At this point, your heart races faster and you don't realize you've kept him waiting for your remark, but you could care less. This man sitting in front of you could be that man who won't leave your thoughts alone for the past two months. That man whom you just met once and for only a few hours. That man who gave you the best you've ever had…

You slowly reach out for his arm before gripping it tightly, and one touch is all it takes for your lips to part as you recall that night at the bar where you met him the first time. The first time you fondled his arm and feeling the strange ice coldness of it. Where spilled red wine brought you closer to him and how it led to how your bodies are jointed in one, steamy, unforgettable love making session.

And how he ended up leaving because of some strange reason when you feel it could lead to something more and how it felt like someone punched your chest repeatedly… But the strangest thing is that how it only happened once in your life; only with him.

Then you recall something… It was raining heavily when a dark soul choking you in a dark alleyway… before an ice ball strikes his hand and frees you… but then your head is slammed against a wall and then the last thing you see are those blue eyes…

These things are starting to make sense, but there's only one way to find out.

"Do me a favor. Take off your mask," You utter before he nods at your request.

You retract your hand as soon as he brings his hands to the back of his head, unbuckling the face cover before removing it completely and revealing his scruffy beard framing his beautiful face. But your heart skips a beat once he removes the latex head cover off of his face.

It really _is_ him…

"Kuai Liang…" You manage to let out his name despite your lips part in surprised.

You're not sure is it a happy kind of surprised or the other way around, though. It's baffling that you barely know this greek god yet he's been haunting your loneliness ever since he left that night.

And now he strangely appears as… Sub-Zero, as the dark man addresses him.

But why would he need two names? Though the name Sub-Zero suits Kuai- remembering how cold those hands are.

"Yes, it is I." Kuai simply smiles at your speechlessness. Oh, that sugary smile again. You almost forget how it used to curl your toes. Well, turns out it still does…

But getting carried away with that smile isn't an option right now. Your mind spins around, trying to calculate this and that and how can he magically appears after he's been gone without any contact. You are barely aware that your jaw drops and you've left him with no words for quite a while.

Trying to loosen your stilted jaw, you finally have some words to mutter, "But… how is it even possible?"

"I am unclear on the meaning of your confusion."

"I'm not the one you can play dumb with, Kuai." You say firmly.

"Forgive me, but I truly do not grasp where you are heading." Kuai apologetically says. Though you're certain he really don't understand by his concerned expression, you're almost losing patience. Your teeth clenches tight behind your firmly shutted lips and you find it hard to control yourself.

But then you remember that this man is Kuai. The gentleman you know he is.

Taking a deep breath in advance, you manage to remark in a soft tone, "After we spent the night together, you left without any valid reason. You left me with questions and mixed emotion because the truth be told I-" Your voice trails off before you stress your next words, "I felt a strange connection between us. And you wouldn't leave my thoughts alone and now you appear out of the blue saving me from God knows what sort of darkness it is. You owe me an explanation, Kuai."

Kuai stuns in front of you. Eyes looking down at your hand jointed with his. He rubs your knuckles softly with his finger, seems like he's trying to arrange words in his head, but you don't know for sure. He's leaving you in silence. A silence that kills you slowly. The normal you would just storm out and don't bother with it forever.

After what feels like an eternity, he finally answers, "The life I am living is… complicated, and I do not wish for you to be involved in it as it might harm yours as well."

"Whose life is not complicated?"

"Believe me; you would not want to get too familiar with me." Kuai mutters dejectedly.

Feeling rather dismayed by his answer. You lift his chin up, forcing him to look directly into your eyes, "You can't be that complicated, Kuai."

"Even if I recite who I really am, you would not believe me. It is that complicated indeed."

"Well if that so, why did you even bother saving me this evening?" You launch your somewhat efficacious bullet in attempt to break what's inside that peahead of his, which Kuai remarks with another dead silence.

You scold desperately at his silent treatment, "If you don't even want me in your life, why couldn't you just leave me there? That could've saved you some time, couldn't it? I didn't ask you to save me or bring me back to your place, did I?"

Nothing's coming out of his mouth, still.

"And the strangest thing is you were right there when I was in distress. What are the chances of that?"

Despite you being so close to snapping and you've made it obvious within your tone, Kuai's mouth still suppresses into a single line.

The solitude he's giving you is enough to push your button. You lift your head towards the ceiling as you shut your eyes tight. The frustration keeps building and you can't hold the bark any longer, "I demand answer, Kuai Liang!"

His answer is almost immediate, "Truthfully, I too felt some sort of attachment to you, after our night together. I could not resist the need to stay close to you, but I am unsure of what to do, so I-" His voice trails off, "I have been watching over you from distance ever since."

"You've been… following me?"

"Merely once a day, but still I apologize…"

You find your lips parting in disbelief. Having him confessed his feelings to you doesn't come as a surprise - heck, you realize from the get go the chemistry's real. What baffles you is that how instead of telling you, he decided to follow you around as if he's your stalker. You refuse to believe he's a wuss, but it never crosses your mind that such mighty fine creature could have no gut to do so.

Still thunderstrucked, you slowly mutter, "Just - why, Kuai? W-what are you?"

"I… I could not reveal it still…"

Frustrated for not getting answers from him, you firmly raise your feet off the bed in attempt of drifting from him despite of how your head spins harshly at the sudden movement you make.

"By the gods, why? Why do you have to make everything so complicated, Kuai Liang?! We like each other but how is it not enough?" You exclaim as you glare at him furiously.

"It is -"

"Ever since you left me that night, there is not a second that I did not think about you. The strangest thing is that I've never felt this way to anyone else but you. Isn't it enough to know that you're wanted?" You confess, trying to convince Kuai. Somehow you see all kinds of emotion within his eyes as you pour your heart out; anger, sadness and doubt, but you cannot be bothered by it and maneuver yourself towards the door anyway, "Then you won't let this happen but you can't seem to let me go either… you're toying with me, Kuai. You make me feel all these alien feelings and now you—"

"BECAUSE I DO NOT WISH TO PUSH YOU AWAY ONCE YOU HAVE LEARNT THE TRUTH!"

Cutting you, he raises his tone rather furiously before stopping your tracks with a sturdy grip on your arm. You cock your head to find him with quickened breath as if he's holding his emotions back.

It's quite obvious that he's feeling rather emotional. You'd never thought his composed exterior could let out such… anger, you could say.

His grip on your arm is almost too much for you to handle, but you can't afford to think about it as you're processing his sudden blow up. There's more to him than just a pretty face, and you think you've figured it out the minute he walked out on you.

But for all you know, what he's trying to hide could be nothing simple. Maybe Kuai knows something about the dark man that confronted you. Maybe that was one of the danger he was talking about. Maybe there's no use barking back at him- for all you know, his intentions to you are good.

"Why do you think the truth would push me away?" You ask composedly, gazing at him in pity.

"Because it is... you…" He answers wryly, weakening his grip on you. His tone is much calmer, but again, there's sadness in the way he's saying it.

Oh, if only he knew how much of a shipwreck you are, he wouldn't be thinking that highly of you..

"Kuai Liang, I have flaws too."

"I refuse to believe that."

"I have issues, Kuai," You remark, slowly letting yourself go from Kuai's weak grip as you walk a few steps away from Kuai. You can't afford to look at or stay close to him when you know you're going to expose yourself to him.

"I know myself as someone who has issues when it comes to this sort of attachment. I—I've lost count on how many men I've had casual relationship with since it's hard for me to stay committed because I'm… a loner who never felt lonely, I would say. But then I met you and then after you left… I don't know, there's a gap inside of me that I feel like only you can fill. I—"

"I am an assassin."

Your eyes shot wide hearing Kuai, lips parting slightly in disbelief.

No, no. A man like him couldn't possibly kill someone…

But then your mind travels back to the words he left before he walked out. Those words that stabs your heart repeatedly… The ones that left an unexpectedly deep wound within you…

 _Engaging with me could endanger your life…_

 _You know not my evil side… What I do… it is dangerous…_

 _The life I am living is… complicated_

Those words from Kuai's mouth echoes back through your mind, adding a much heavier burden to your already heavy head. You don't think you can breathe properly as you absorb this truth.

And it's all starting to make sense now...

You try to shut your eyes tight as you pinch yourself. This could just be one of those dreams you keep on having, but you realize this isn't as you open your eyes back to reality. This time you have to face the truth.

"What…?" You mutter in skepticism as you shift yourself to where he's standing, finding his head lowered and his fists balled.

"It is true… I am Sub-Zero, grandmaster of Lin Kuei, and you are at the Lin Kuei Palace." He confesses slowly. Eyes still pinned on the ground, not showing any sign of maneuvering them to you.

Still baffled from the new informations, you slowly take a few steps towards him, hoping for earful of it. You realize this must be hard for him having confessed this job of him that you think supposed to be confidential, but at the same time you know you can't rush him into pouring it all out.

But before you can even speak any word or move closer, he overtakes you, making you stop your tracks, "I am… a cryomancer…"

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"I have the ability to yield and control… ice." He adds.

Again, you're exposed to a new, odd fact yet you're still trying to believe the other one he told you earlier when you thought that's the most twisted he can get. But no, Kuai Liang turns out to be full of surprises.

You're at that point when you're not sure what you're feeling anymore about all this. Shocked, pity, even a little sad for yourself. Odd combination, you realized.

But you're sure of one thing; your feelings for Kuai Liang stays the same. No, you're not backing away and strangely, the fear isn't present this time.

"So… you are not human?" You ask carefully, raising an eyebrow.

"My mother was human. My father was a cryomancer."

"So… half human, then?"

"Cryomancers have the appearance of human, but yes, I am technically only the descendant of a cryomancer."

You quietly breathe a sigh of relieve. If this was the first thing he'd told you, you would've lost it, but compared to the other facts he has smeared to your face, this is the most handleable of all.

But now, you're not sure of what to say to him. No, you're not going to run away, but you can't seem to remark this lightly either.

 _What are you going to say?_

"I sometimes wonder if I still have the ability to care because of my troublesome situation, but after our encounter, I— I discovered that I do have the ability to see a significant other in such… romantic way. And what I feel towards you evolves the more I watch over you…" Kuai Liang breaks the silence. His eyes still avoiding yours.

You take another step towards him, trying to get his attention, "Kuai Liang, look at me."

"But then I keep reminding myself that I could not put you in such danger that my life possesses because I am afraid something would take effect on you as how Bi-Han found out about you and utilize you to my weakness"

"Kuai Liang," You say his name again, louder this time. He's not fixing his gaze on you still as if the floor is the most interesting thing in the whole world.

"If you wish to not see me again, I understand and I could escort you to another room. But I plead you; do not leave this place yet. Bi-Han is out there, still."

Good lord, when will he stop talking and turn his viewpoint towards you?

Losing your patience, you feel like you have no other choice but to snap to get his attention, "Kuai!"

Your snap works and almost immediately, he lift his head to meet your gaze, and it's calling to you as if he actually wish you'd stay for him. To accompany his lonely soul. And by this moment on, you're lost for words.

But one thing you've learned in this life is that action speaks louder than words.

In a blink of an eye, you throw an arm above his neck before meeting your lips with his soft ones, closing your eyes in the process. Your sudden movement draws Kuai Liang to slightly flinch as if he's not expecting you to answer his confessions with a simple kiss, but he doesn't back away from you.

You certainly wouldn't mind to go on and melt within the familiarity of Kuai Liang's intoxicating scent, but you do need one last assertion from him as you slowly pull away, caressing his beard gently, "Still thinking you're pushing me away?"

Gaze fixated on you, he lets his breaths of ice shrouding your face. He's looking at you as if he's having a debate with himself whether what he just witnessed is real or not. As if this is something out of his expectation, but you're not quite sure- you're not a mind reader per se.

Catching you by surprise, he cups one side of your jaw and presses his lips with yours once again- something you've been yearning for long. That's why instead of flinching, you gladly comply to this remark of his. As you drape an arm above his broad shoulder, he grabs your waist to close the gap between you. His prevalent soft, tender lips immediately drown you within his embrace, turning the kiss more passionate.

Normally, with other guys, you'd do this with pure lust, but there's something you find it hard to describe about this kiss with Kuai Liang. It's feels somewhat familiar, but you've never have this kind of kiss before.

It's like your lips are created only for each other.

Either way, there's only one thing you need to say to clear this thing out.

As you slowly release his lips, you keep your face close to him, embracing the closeness fully as if you won't let him go for the second time, "I've missed you, Kuai."

You can't quite make out his expression as the distance between you two is intimately close, but you're quite sure his lips twitch into a beautiful smile of his you've grown to love, "So have I, my dear."

Surprisingly, Kuai's embrace is much warmer this second as he pulls you closer onto his chest and wraps his arm around you. For all you know, Kuai's skin is always cold, but this right here, is far away from chilly.

And for a split second, you wouldn't mind feeling this in a long term.

As you feel Kuai's lips on top of your crown, your hands wrapping on his torso gets tighter as if you'd never let go of his embrace. Maybe this is the real intimacy you've never felt before- the peak of your satisfaction lies within this moment, and you wish this never ends.

"So what do we do now, Kuai?" You ask weakly as you paint his perfectly carved back with your fingers.

"Do you wish to keep seeing me?" He answers, stroking your hair gently in his embrace.

"Yes."

"That is good to hear," Hearing him breathing a sigh of relieve, you know his lips twitches upwards right next to your ear before he kisses you gently right there, "Because I too, would like to give this a chance."

Instantly, your heart is filled with joy and a split thought about asking him regarding the earlier Bi-Han catastrophe has gone out the window. For once, you'd rather savor the moment. This second. With Kuai Liang.

As your fingers travel up and bury them beneath his dark hair, you pull him closer to you before landing your lips on his once again, pouting your lips on his bottom lip as he does with your upper lip, dueling both of your lips which movement soon gets more intense.

His hands on your hips soon drive your back against the wall- there is no rush in his movement, but he's certainly been craving for you. Your hand slides down to his neck before darting your tongue out to gain entrance into his mouth. Complying, Kuai soon gives into your kiss as your tongues dance to your desirable, passionate rhythm.

All too soon, Kuai breaks the kiss as he dips his head on the crook of your neck, showering you with gentle kisses that sends shivers down your spine, tilting your chin up and draping your arms through his neck as you curl one of your legs on his.

As the little game you're having gets more heated, unfortunately, a knock on the door is heard which sends you grunting as Kuai stops himself and stands properly.

With his hand still on your jaw, Kuai presses his forehead against you as he chuckles apologetically, "I'm sorry, I must get the door."

"It is way past midnight, Kuai. Why would anyone disturbs?" You frown as you place your hand over his arm.

"It is merely normal, dearest," Kuai remarks, kissing your forehead afterwards, "Besides, it is better for you to get some rest. I will have someone sending you food as well. You need to feed yourself."

As Kuai lets yourself off of his embrace, he walks through the nightstand to get his mask as you reply with your hands jointed neatly behind your back, "But… will you be back?"

"Indeed," Fetching you a reassuring smile, you know he's telling the truth, "Very soon."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading the sequel! :D Because of some demands, I decided to write this and I hope you enjoy this as much as you enjoy the first one. Not sure if I should continue this because I currently feel like this is enough lol but what do you think? Please press that favorite button for me + review the story as they are much appreciated by me. They let me know this worth the effort and that I should keep writing :) Oh, and as usual, s/o to my best bud MartengaPop for the continuous support and love for this. Love u gal x  
**


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